Thread lubricating attachment for sewing machines



May 12, 1959 w. c. EARNHART 2,

7 THREAD LUBRICATING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Aug. 15, 1956Fig. g

William C. E arn/mr/ INVENTOR.

THREAD LUBRICATING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES William C. Earnhart,Union, Mo.

Application August 13, 1956,Serial No..603,576

2 Claims. (Cl. 112-218) This invention relates to certain new and usefulimprovements in a thread lubricating attachment for leather and textilesewing machines, for example, those used in a shoe factory; and pertainsmore particularly to a lubricating device that will continuously andevenly apply a lubricant to the thread preparatory to the step ofstitching through delicate leathers and textile materials where, forinstance, cements and heat generated by the needle are encountered.

An object of the invention is to provide a sewing machine attachmentwhich is attached to the face plate having lubricant supply meanscarried thereby and disposed at the front end of said face plate so thatthe thread passing through the takeup lever on the way to the eye of theneedle comes in contact with lubricant-laden applicator felts and willbe coated and conditioned with said lubricant.

Another object of the invention is to structurally and otherwise improveupon attachments and devices, such as are applied to sewing machines andthe like, and which are so constructed that they make it possible towax, lubricate or otherwise treat the thread at the desired stage ofoperation and, in doing so, to provide a structurally distinctadaptation in which manufacturers and retailers will find theirmanufacturing requirements, economies and retailing needs satisfactorilymet and the users will find their individual and varying needseffectually met.

Briefly summarized, the invention in its preferred embodiment ischaracterized by a suitably constructed and designed adapter plate whichis mounted on the usual face plate of the machine head and which isprovided at its top with a clip or the like to embrace a lubricantcontaining can and is provided at its bottom with a socketlike memberwhich constitutes not only a receiver for the applicable lubricant butalso as a holder for insertable and removable felt or equivalent wicks,the wicks serving as applicator pads for the thread which passes incontact therewith.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparentfrom the following description and the accompanying sheet of ofl'icialdrawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate likeparts throughout the views:

Figure l is an elevational view showing a fragmentary portion of asewing machine with the conventional parts and showing, what is moreimportant, the attachment which is provided for lubricating the threadin the manner illustrated;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the attachment by itself; and

Figure 3 is a view in section and elevation bringing out the details andconstruction and arrangement with requisite particularity.

Referring now to the drawings and with respect to Figure 1, theoverhanging arm of the sewing machine is denoted by the numeral 6 whilethe head, as a general -2,885,984 Patented May 12, 1959 "ice 2 entity,is denoted at 8. This is provided with a face plate 10. The needle isdenoted at 12 and one of the guides in the guide assembly is denoted at14. These are conventional parts.

The attachment comprises a substantially rectangular flat adapter plate16 having bolt holes 18 whereby it is fastened as at 20 (Fig. 3) on theface plate :in the man- 1 ner shown. This is provided at the upper endwith a resilient clip 22 which embraces the lubricant or oil con- 0taining can 24 referred to as a reservoir. This base screw cap 26 and adispensing nozzle or spout 28 which .is aligned with a hole 30 in thetop wall 32 of the rectangular or box-like member on the lower end ofthe plate 16. The numeral 34 designates a reinforcing web. The memberreferred to is denoted at 36 and is closed at the end as at 38 with theother end open to accomimodate the insertable and removable applicatorpads or felts 39. The closed end portion provides a chamber or receiver40 for the lubricant.

It will be evident from the drawings that the adapter plate 16 issuperimposed upon the face plate 10 and fastened in the manner shown toclip and hold the reservoir or lubricant can in a position which may besaid to be inverted and ready for dispensing. The lower end portion ofthe adapter plate positions the member 36 between the guide 14 and theneedle 12 and, in fact, it so locates the applicators 39 that they arein a position to permit the thread A to have Wiping and lubricatingcontact therewith.

The lubricant is fed into the receiver from the inverted can orreservoir, which is a vacuum feed. As the felts absorb the lubricant,more lubricant is fed into the lubricator until the felts are saturated.Then the flow is stopped until the lubricant is used from the felts, andas the felts absorb more lubricant more is fed into the lubricator fromthe vacuum reservoir. The lubricant is transferred to the thread by thethread touching the felt pads or applicators. By applying the lubricantclose to the needle, less lubricant is thrown oif. This makes for evenlubrication on the thread, and a cooler needle. This also solves theproblem of thread breakage with nylon thread from heat, and stitchingthrough cements with nylon or cotton thread.

Novelty is thought to reside in the over-all combination with thecomponents contributing their proportionate shares to the improvedthread treating and lubricating result, as well as in the attachment orlubricator by itself.

It is understood, of course, that the thread passes through the tensiondevice before it passes through the takeup lever. Therefore, thelubricant is applied to the thread after it has passed through thetension and just before it is formed into stitches. Consequently, withthe lubricant being applied at this point the tensions and thread guidesdo not strip the thread of the lubricant applied thereto. Also, at thispoint there is less whip to the thread and this feature reduces the lossto lubricant.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be restorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An attachment for the face plate on the head structure of a sewingmachine comprising vertically disposable adapter plate provided on oneside at the upper end of said plate with a spring clip which is adaptedto releasably embrace and hold a removable invertedlubricant containingcan parallel to said plate in a vertical dispensing position, a hollowbox-like member having a median portion of a1 top wall the-reofattached" to' the lower; end of'said plate" and" disposed in a plane atright angles-to the vertical plane of the' plate and closed at one endand providing a receiver and also a socket'memb'er, theopjeni-ende'dsocket' portion thereof being provided with insertable andremovable absorbent wicks, the top of one end portion of the receiverportion of said'member thavin'g'a hole thereinlto accommodatea.discharge nozzle on" said" lubricant containing can;

2; The" attachment and construction thereof recited in claim'iland"wl:terein' approximately onedialf portion of the. hollow "box-like"member projects beyond one. side of" References'Cited'linthe fil'c ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,270,470 Waggoner: --J1111B 25;. 19181,703,781 Rubel ..Feb. 26, 1929 1,802,602 Hellweg Apr. 28, 19311,856,882 Myers May 3, 1932

